OMCA Ambassadors help promote OMCA's mission by providing a friendly, welcoming face to all visitors. Through training sessions, events, and new friendships, they develop a rewarding personal relationship with the Museum.

Attention: Ambassadors needed for Fall 2016

We are currently recruiting Ambassadors to provide orientation to school groups. Volunteers need to be available on either Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday mornings from 9:15 am to 1 pm starting in October. Volunteers must also attend a required training session. Training sessions are on September 21, 23, and 29, from 11:15 am to 1 pm.

If you are interested in participating, please send a letter of interest along with your contact information and availability to equist@museumca.org

What are the benefits of becoming an Ambassador at OMCA?

Besides feeling great about giving back, helping others, and supporting a museum you love, volunteers also get these more tangible benefits during the course of their volunteer commitment:

Free admission to the Museum and special exhibitions.

Special curator tours of new exhibitions and other informative and fun training sessions.

Invitation to the White Elephant Sale staff shopping days.

Special 10% discount in the OMCA Store; 15% discount in the Café on the day of your shift.

An OMCA Ambassador will be expected to:

Move throughout the Museum being welcoming, helpful, and friendly to all visitors in the Museum, including visitors of various ages and ethnicities.

Stay knowledgeable of current Museum exhibitions and events, and be able to connect visitors to information they are seeking.

Direct visitors to ticketing, galleries, OMCA Store, Museum Café, and other amenities within the Museum as needed.

Enjoy offering general information about OMCA, the renovation, and its collection to guests to enhance their visit.

Consider joining the Museum as a member so you can enhance your participation even more with a free subscription to our magazine, invitations to exhibition openings and member hours, and more.

Minimum Commitment:

Two shifts per month, for six months. Weekly shifts encouraged.

Requirements:

Ability to move around the Museum comfortably for up to three hours at a time.

Skilled with interacting with the public, maintaining a courteous manner at all times,

Ability to adhere to best practices, as set forth in the Volunteer Handbook.

Speak fluent English; fluency in other languages a plus!

Access to email and a computer (All scheduling done online; computer training is available at the Oakland Public Library)

Maintain a neat personal appearance and adhere to the preferred dress code.

Interested? To participate, please register at Shiftboard. You will receive emails for our next training/information session.

No phone calls, please.

Become an Exhibit Guide

Experience the excitement of touring school groups with just a two to three month commitment. Meet new people with similar interests and become part of our museum family.

Exhibit Guides are trained in a specific special exhibition or part of a gallery, including Days of the Dead, Gold Rush, or California Indians. Trainings are held periodically throughout the year depending on our need for guides.

Commitment:
Trainings last four to six weeks. After successful completion, guides commit to touring school groups Wednesdays through Fridays, once a week, for two to three months.

Interested in knowing more?
If you would like to be added to our mailing list to be notified when new training sessions are offered, please send us your name, email and mailing address to docentcenter@museumca.org. For more information on these opportunities, please contact the Docent Center or call us at 510-318-8470.

Join OMCA's 250 Docents—volunteers in the Art, History, and Natural Sciences Galleries—who help visitors of all ages enjoy and appreciate California's natural wonders and cultural riches.

Join our Docent corps and experience the excitement that comes from a continuing education experience of field trips, lectures, and hands-on trainings. Make new friends with people who have similar interests, and become part of a great institution. Most of all, help to ignite a spark in a young person's imagination and experience the excitement of inspiring visitors to make discoveries that bring new insights about life in our great state. Art, History, and Natural Sciences Docent training is offered on a rotating basis every few years.

Commitment:
The Docent training program runs for approximately one year. Once you graduate from the training program, the commitment is for two shifts every month for two years.

Requirements:
No experience is necessary—just enthusiasm for learning about what California offers and an eagerness to share your passion. After completing training, you will be ready to give tours in the galleries and special exhibitions, helping our visitors make exciting discoveries about California's art, history, and natural environment.

Docents and Exhibit Guides need to be able to move around the Museum comfortably for 3 hours at a time, have access to email and a computer, and have a love of sharing your enthusiasm with museum visitors.